AT FIRST, the discussion was about missing Opening Day. Then April. Then May. And now it is possible John Franco is out for the rest of his career.

Franco has built a borderline Hall-of-Fame career on grit, driven to excel because so many who watched him at Lafayette High in Brooklyn and St. John’s in Queens and then in minor-league outposts throughout the country told him a guy his size, 5-foot-10 only in his imagination and the Met media guide, could not make it in The Show.

But determination is one thing at 20, the year he broke into pro ball; or 32, his age the first time Dr. David Altchek opened up his elbow. He is 41 now, and heart just may not be enough to come all the way back from what very well could be an entire missed season.

The Met were to announce last night the results of an MRI on Franco’s surgically repaired elbow, but all indications were that the news was bad.

“I’m sure it [that his career is over] is in the back of my mind,” Franco said yesterday before he knew MRI results. “But with today’s medical practices, if something is wrong, you can get it fixed and get it right.”

Again, though, that is a lot tougher for a pitcher whose prime was during George Bush Sr.’s presidential term.

Franco had a 20-minute procedure done on Dec. 3 by Altchek to remove a calcium deposit from his left elbow. It was deemed minor. But this is the elbow of a 41-year-old. It is surgery. It looks like it is going to be minor in the way that The Minnow was on just a three-hour tour.

“I can’t pitch competitively the way John Franco wants with the pain I have right now,” Franco said in explaining why he went for an MRI yesterday. “I won’t do myself or the team any good. I would risk hurting myself further and also risk hurting the team.”

As the chain of events unfolded following the MRI yesterday, it became obvious Franco’s desires that it would merely show inflammation would go the same way as his desires to be active Opening Day had gone.

Away from Shea, Altchek was reading the MRI and then sending it to team doctor Andrew Rokito. The two then consulted before Rokito headed to Shea to talk to Franco and Met officials. Before the results were even imparted to the Mets, Bobby Valentine said of them, “It’s not that important because he is going to be a couple of months away. It is important, but not of the essence.”

And that was Valentine talking without knowing the MRI results, merely noting Franco would have to undergo a complete spring training to ready himself to pitch even if he was deemed fully healthy. Then GM Steve Phillips said he knew the results of the MRI, but would wait until Franco – out in right field during batting practice – was fully informed on the subject.

It was now obvious the news was bad. Very bad. After all, if the MRI had merely shown minor inflammation or if the prescribed rehabilitation included just a few more days of rest, Phillips would surely have felt comfortable saying that. His silence screamed the worst. His silence suggested Franco might never add to those 422 saves, never set-up Armando Benitez again.

Franco tried to find comfort in that the patron saint of lefties, Jesse Orosco, had elbow surgery two years ago and is still going at age 45 with the Dodgers. Maybe Franco will follow. For now, though, his chance to play on this $100 million-plus team – to get that shot at a first championship – is possibly gone. And it might be far worse than that.